Satterstrom, P. Microwedges: Challenging power one small opening at a time.[Dissertation, preparing for submission]

Based on a 31-month qualitative inductive study of multidisciplinary change teams, I introduce the concept of the “microwedge”—a small action or series of actions by team members that allows the team to examine their own assumptions so that they can begin to engage differently with each other and their work. Over time, these actions create broader changes in the team’s power structure such that the team begins to rely less on hierarchy and more on individuals’ skills, experience, and interests to guide their interactions. Microwedges may also allow some teams to start challenging hierarchy more broadly in their organizations. I propose a process model describing how changes in power can occur in teams. This model challenges our understanding of power and voice in the following ways: 1) lower-power members play a leading role in creating the change (instead of team leaders and managers), 2) microwedges generally have negative effects in the moment while planting a seed that creates change later, and 3) microwedges work not by directly challenging hierarchy but rather by creating dissonance about how people understand each other’s contributions and how they enact, or fail to enact, that understanding.

Satterstrom, P. Finding their voice: Time and the conditions that elevate participation of lower-power members in teams. [Dissertation, data analysis and writing]